The Department of Defense's central repository for visual images will undertake a massive archival preservation project in 2014, the agency announced in a recent statement. The Defense Imagery Management Operations Center recently received $5 million to preserve hundreds of thousands of historical images, with the ultimate goal of enhancing its digital archive.
The DIMOC archives military images for not only the Defense Department, but also for other federal agencies and the public. The images are often found in obscure places, such as closed bases or deserted warehouses. Once the physical images are digitized, they can be viewed online. The photos available for viewing were taken by members acting on the behalf of the DOD, according to Defense Imagery website.
However, it's not only photographic prints that the archival center is working to preserve, but also negatives, film slides and videotapes.
"That material is deteriorating faster than we can offer it to the National Archives and we need to get it into a digital form," said DIMOC director Mike Edrington.
According to the DOD, one reason why the DIMOC is taking on this massive archival process is because its climate-controlled storage space at the March Air Base in Riverside, Calif., is quickly filling up.
The recent cuts to the cost-of-living adjustments may affect more than just military retirees under the age of 62.
According to The Associated Press, the 1 percent reduction to the annual COLA increases for working-age military retirees extends to survivors who receive annuity payments under the Survivor Benefit Plan. The insurance plan provides surviving spouses with a monthly payment to make up for the loss of retirement benefits and income. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said in a statement that survivors can receive up to 55 percent of the retiree's amount of coverage.
"Those who have kept us safe and taken bullets for us shouldn't be singled out to sacrifice even more," Ayotte said. "I am continuing my efforts to immediately right this wrong and to ensure our military retirees, survivors and combat-wounded receive the full benefits they've earned."
The COLA reductions were one of the most controversial measures in the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in late December. The Washington Post reported that a new Veteran Affairs bill featuring a provision that would reverse the pension cuts was recently introduced in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The Georgia branch of the gift-giving holiday program Toys for Tots received a record number of toy donations in 2013. According to an announcement from the Department of Defense, the program at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga., set out to collect 15,000 toys throughout the 2013 Christmas season. When program wrapped up this month, it received 17,000 toys – far exceeding the members' expectations.
"Thanks to the outpouring of support from the local community and surrounding counties, we had enough toys to give three to five per child," Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Johnny R. Ruby, an assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots, said in a statement.
The program at the Georgia base helped approximately 3,000 children, according to Toys for Tots coordinator Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Ernest Thompson. About 2,000 toys were also donated to a local Salvation Army, where they were given to more than 500 families.
In addition to toys, Thompson said that the Georgia branch of the organization received $3,000 in funds.
Toys for Tots began as an official Marine Corps program when it was approved by the Department of Defense in 1995. Since its inception, Toys for Tots has provided toys for more than 216 million children, according to the organization's website.
After reports surfaced that several VA hospitals blocked Christmas cards and other Christmas-specific items from being delivered to their residents during the holiday season, leaders in Congress began questioning the acts. Now, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs is reviewing the VA's policy that bans religious items from its medical centers.
According to The Augusta Chronicle, Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) sent a letter to Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki ordering an overview of the steps the department is taking to rectify the incidents that occurred around the Christmas holiday.
Miller said in a statement that he expects an answer from the VA by next week.
"Christmas was declared a federal holiday by our government in the 1800s, and it is not up to the department to decide whether veterans, their families, volunteers, and veterans service organizations should be free to sing Christmas carols or exchange Christmas gifts within VA facilities," Miller said, as quoted by the news source.
The news outlet stated that a VA medical center in Augusta, Ga., was one of the facilities that denied Christmas cards to its residents. FOX 4 also reported that a VA hospital in Dallas prohibited school children from the Grace Academy from delivering cards to the patients because the cards featured religious-oriented symbols and phrases.
According in the news source, a spokesperson for the VA released a statement explaining that non-secular cards were distributed freely among the medical centers, while secular cards are handed out on a one-to-one basis with a patient's approval.
The Pentagon announced this week that it will end its walk-in administrative services at all TRICARE service centers in the U.S. TRICARE beneficiaries will be able to use the walk-in services to access their military benefits until April 1.
There are currently 189 TRICARE medical service centers around the country. Half of the walk-in visits to the centers are for in- and out-processing and requests to switch primary health care providers. While walk-in services will no longer be available, Pentagon officials said servicemembers and veterans can still complete any administrative task online or by phone.
"The change will not – let me repeat that – will not affect any TRICARE medical benefit or health care service," Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said in a statement. "What it will do is allow the department to save $250 million over the next five years, allowing TRICARE to invest in more important services."
Pentagon officials added that the TRICARE website receives about 38,000 hits each day.
The first TRICARE service center opened in the mid '90s, according to the health care system's website. Most of the service centers are located in military hospitals and clinics. Although the walk-in services are ceasing in the U.S., the TRICARE website states that the services will continue at overseas facilities.
A deserted building in Auburn, Wash., will be the future home of a veterans services center composed of nonprofit veterans assistance groups, KING 5 News reported. The site was acquired from the state six months ago. Now, Auburn city officials are working to get the center running within the next six months.
"We'll make a world of difference in the lives of so many who live on the edge," Michael Hursh, human services manager for the City of Auburn, told the news source.
Hursh added that while Auburn has a number of nonprofits that assist veterans with military benefits, the organizations are currently scattered across the city and King County. The goal of this new project is to bring those groups together so veterans have a one-stop center for all their needs.
The Auburn-Reporter previously noted that the 33,000-square-foot facility is expected to cost between $6 and $7 million. It will house local organizations such as the Auburn Food Bank, and receive assistance from the nearby Valley Medical Center-University of Washington.
According to the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington is home to more than 600,000 veterans and 60,000 active-duty servicemembers.
For the first time since 2009, a national advocacy group has been deemed a veterans service organization.
Stars and Stripes reported that the Military Officers Association of America has stepped in to help veterans prepare their applications for military benefits, primarily disability claims. The new designation allows the group to handle the benefits claims paperwork on behalf of veterans.
"We just felt like we couldn't stay on the sidelines on this anymore," MOAA president Norb Ryan told the news source. "Even with all the great help out there already, there is still a lot of work to get done."
The news outlet noted that the group will assist veterans with collecting their documents, as well as case management. The MOAA will help with just a few thousand cases in 2014.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the disability claims backlog has been reduced by 34 percent since March 2013, when the number of claims peaked at more than 600,000 pending cases. As of November 2013, there were about 401,000 claims still pending. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said in a statement that the VA is continuing to work toward eliminating the disability claims backlog by 2015.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., is currently looking into what unfolded at several VA hospitals over the Christmas holiday.
Military Times reported that administrators at various VA hospitals prohibited veterans organizations, schools and private donors from delivering Christmas-specific cards to their patients. Carolers singing Christmas songs were also blocked, as well as people delivering gifts wrapped in Christmas-themed paper.
Miller, along with Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., have addressed letters to Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki about the reported incidents, asking him to look into whether or not the VA violated its policy on distributing religious material and gifts, according to the news outlet.
"In taking it upon themselves to restrict Christmas cards, carols and gifts in certain locations, VA officials clearly ignored longstanding federal government traditions, basic common sense and possibly a 2011 federal consent decree that ordered VA not to ban religious speech," Miller wrote in a letter to Shinseki, as quoted by the news source.
The reports of people being barred from delivering Christmas cards and other items to VA medical centers have also angered the American Legion. According to Alabama.com, the organization stepped in after staff members at the Dallas VA Medical Center prohibited a group of school children from distributing religious-themed cards to veterans at the facility. The American Legion is now calling on the VA to provide answers.
A new program in Washington, D.C., is training wounded warriors in computer forensics to track down child predators. Known as the H.E.R.O. Child-Rescue Corp, the program is the brainchild of PROTECT, a children's lobbying group, and currently consists of 17 veterans.
"There's a war going on against American children. We're not sending in child advocates, we're sending special operations forces," said Grier Weeks, executive director of PROTECT.
After an 11-week training course in computer forensics and legal analysis, the veterans work as interns at Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices for one year, according to The Associated Press. The majority of their work is focused on child pornography cases, analyzing evidence needed to prosecute suspects and determining if there are abused children still in need of help.
While the issues they're dealing with may be difficult, it has helped veterans find a new purpose in life after service.
"I feel I'm still serving my country and protecting my family at the same time," Afghanistan and Iraq war veteran Oskar Zepeda told the news source.
Although they are not compensated for their work, many of the interns receive disability paychecks, as well as monthly stipends for education assistance, the news outlet stated.
Veterans enrolled at Ohio colleges and universities may find it easier to live on-campus with the establishment of private, military-only housing.
The Beacon Journal reported that Hiram College, located in rural Portage County, will be opening a residence in January for military veterans. Called the Freedom Center, the residence at the newly renovated Henry Hall will feature single rooms. While the college doesn't have a large veteran population – only 10 students – developer Hiram DeJesus, whose company Patriot Development LLC is renovating the dorm facility, told the news source that the new living quarters will help attract veterans to the campus. As incentive, the college is also offering free housing for the first 20 veterans who enroll.
"Our goal is to provide the best environment for the successful transition from the military back into civilian life," DeJesus said.
Tim Bryan, a spokesperson for Hiram College, added that the college may provide additional land for the development of veterans-only townhouses.
Veterans-only dorms and residences are currently on the rise in the U.S. According to Inside Higher Education, one of the latest universities that began providing housing for its military students is New Mexico State University, which established on-campus units tailored to veterans with families.